Ford O'Connell: GOP Sees Trump As A Fighter, But He Won't Win

The reason billionaire Donald Trump is starting to rise in some of the polls is because they believe the real estate mogul is a fighter, says Republican strategist Ford O'Connell.

"You're seeing a backlash among the Republican primary electorate that thinks the Republicans are feckless, and right now, they see Trump as a fighter," O'Connell told Miranda Khan and Ric Blackwell on "Newsmax Now" on Newsmax TV Thursday.

Trump is leading in a PPP poll among North Carolina voters with 16 percent of the vote. Jeb Bush and Scott Walker are in the second place spot with 12 percentage points.

While O'Connell says that it's not surprising that Trump is leading, he also said that on the flip side, "only 29 percent of Republicans think he's a serious candidate, while 64 percent think he's a side show."

And that's why the Republican strategist says that "there's no way that Trump's going to win this nomination."

O'Connell does think that Trump does present a challenge for the other Republican candidates who don't have the same name recognition and notoriety that the real estate mogul and reality TV star has.

"They're not shaking in their boots, but they're definitely concerned," he told Newsmax TV.